Developing Real Courage

Dungeon Design 1

[No story spoilers] [Pictures coming soon]

I said I was going to start working on LoZ:RC again in June. Well, here we are! To start, I'm going to go over the dungeons in my fanfic. This information is just preliminary, meaning it is incomplete with room for adjustments. I'd really appreciate your feedback and suggestions to make these dungeons better. I'd also like to see what you can come up with for art and such. Maybe one of you game developers out there can build the dungeons, too!

I have drawn a map for the Ice Castle, as well as started a map for the Lava Caves. I will scan and post them soon. If I make maps for the other dungeons, I'll add them as well.

The monsters are chosen from existing ones in the franchise. There are a few websites I reference for details on these monsters. You can do a Google search to find most of the information easily.

Commonalities

Let's start with what's common between dungeons. In each dungeon, Lila must collect four key fragments to unlock the boss room. There is also at least one mini-boss guarding a high-value treasure, such as a key fragment or a tool necessary for completing the dungeon. There are fodder monsters (mooks) in most rooms and some corridors. Sometimes, Lila must defeat all of the monsters (or the boss/mini-boss) in order to exit an area and progress to the next. There are also some secret rooms that contain treasure. In most of these, Lila gets the reward just for figuring out the puzzle. Occasionally she must fight monsters in these secret rooms, which then gives her a bigger treasure.

Treasure

Common: rupees, recovery hearts, small keys

Rare: heart piece, high-value rupees, key fragment

Special: heart container, tool, dungeon goal

Ice Castle

- Location: Inside a cavern near Lake Hylia.

- Element: Ice and Water

- Atmosphere: This dungeon is very cold. The whole thing is made of ice. It is lit by magic blue flames.

- Boss: Gyorg

- Goal: Chainmail of Imperviousness

- Mini-boss: Wooden-Shield Moblin

- Special Item: Lantern

- Mooks: Pengators, Ice Chu, White Wolfos, Lizalfos, Bari

- Puzzles: Use in-dungeon mechanisms to freeze water so ice is out of the way. Then, use the lantern to melt the ice so water is the proper height. (?)

Lava Caves

- Location: Inside Death Mountain and close to Goron territory.

- Element: Lava and Rocks

- Atmosphere: This dungeon is so extremely hot, Lila must wear the Chainmail of Imperviousness to not burn up immediately. The lava lights most of the dungeon, especially on the first floor.

- Requirement: Chainmail of Imperviousness due to extreme heat

- Boss: Volvagia

- Goal: Gauntlets of Strength

- Special Item: Bomb Flowers

- Mooks: Lizalfos, Dynalfos, Bokoblins, Torch Slugs, Hardhat Beetle, Stoneblin

- Puzzles: This dungeon has two floors. The first floor has lava obstacles, and the second floor needs bombs to break barriers.

Desert Mine (The Hole in the Desert)

- Location: This dungeon is buried under the Gerudo Desert. A large, egg-shaped boulder covers the entrance.

- Element: Sand and Death

- Atmosphere: Everything here is dead but reanimated. There are a few magic torches lighting some areas, but most of it is dark. There's a lot of dust and sand.

- Requirement: Gauntlets of Strength to remove giant egg-shaped boulder at the entrance

- Boss: Skeldritch

- Goal: Boots of Sturdiness

- Mini-boss: ReDead Knight

- Special Item: Boomerang

- Mooks: Poes, ReDead Knights, Stalchild, Stalkin, Stalmoblin, Stalkoblin, etc.

- Puzzles: Lila must use the Gauntlets of Strength to remove obstacles. In theory, bombs would also work on these obstacles. Lila also uses the boomerang to stun enemies so they can't stun her.

Mother and Child Isle

- Location: This dungeon is inside a small island with two peaks. Each peak holds a different section of the dungeon.

- Element: Wind and Forest

- Atmosphere: The first section is a coastal area, sandy and barren. The second section is lush and green, which is idyllic for Lila. Both sections have a lot of natural light.

- Requirement: Boots of Sturdiness due to strong winds

- Boss: Cyclok

- Goal: Cloak of Shadows

- Mini-boss: Helmaroc

- Special Item: Hookshot

- Mooks: 1st section Keese, Kargaroc, Dacto; 2nd section Deku Baba, Puffstools, and 1st section monsters

- Puzzles: 1st section, use boots to pass strong winds and get fans in place. 2nd section, use hookshot to get to new places and move objects. This dungeon has a lot of verticalities.

There you have it! The four dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: Real Courage. As I said, these are a work in progress, and I'd love to receive feedback from you. Next week, I will start editing the first draft of the book. Thanks for reading!